In my experience, there seem to be two main categories of expatriates: career/relocation expatriates who, along with their significant others, are sent to a foreign country for work-related reasons and love immigrants.
As the name suggests, a love immigrant comes to a foreign country with no other security than his or her love for a person with a passport different than his or her own. A love immigrant may or may not ever plan to “officially” assimilate into her adopted country by acquiring another or additional citizenship, but every love immigrant comes with the intention of staying forever.
Like culturally homogeneous couples, couples that include a love immigrant face the task of keeping their love alive. However, in addition to this enormous undertaking, a love immigrant also faces the challenge of integrating into an unfamiliar society. She must start a life with new friends and acquaintances and carve out an identity that allows her to be more than just “X’s significant other.” Additionally, the love immigrant will face some degree of culture shock, may have to learn a new language, try to get a job, and might want to start a family.
Some love immigrants seamlessly make the transition into a foreign society while others have a much harder time. It takes a great leap of faith to become a love immigrant and most, if not all, would say that it was worth it.
However, it is a cold hard fact that in this day and age, culturally homogeneous or not, many relationships no longer last forever. People grow apart and love withers and dies.
This situation is never easy, but for a love immigrant it is additionally complex as he or she must confront a multitude of issues. However, first and foremost in her mind is the fundamental matter of whether or not she should stay in her adopted country or return to her native land. Many factors come into play when answering this question and it is probably the most difficult decision of all, but once it is made the rest falls into place.
I should know… I was a love immigrant.